Sylvia Likens

strangers. But never the less that fact will not get me out of this essay. So with my expectations low, I started browsing through some poems. Just when I was about to give up on finding an interesting poem that I liked and could understand, I came across Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” (pages 549-551). This is a dark poem about a woman and the things she experienced while in a concentration camp during the Holocaust ultimately ending with the characters death. As for the overall theme I believe…

Dr. Seuss once asked: “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”, a question still relevant today. Why should we conform to society’s expectations when we were born to escape them? In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood suffered from depression but suppressed how she really felt in hopes of fitting in, which caused her to sink into a further depression. Only when Esther grew out of her desire to fit in was she able to find a way out of her depression. This brought on a valuable…

Esther most significant anxiety is her desire to succeed in various parts of her life professionally and personally, while recognizing that she lives in a world where women rarely venture into success outside of their homes. When Esther thinks of the fig tree she finds it symbolic to host her new opportunities that exist. “From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.” She associates each fig with a different life choice but her desire to branch out…

The Sylvia Plath Effect coined by famous psychologist James C. Kaufman in 2001 explores the idea that poets are often more susceptible to mental illness than other writers (Bailey). Many say that poets are more susceptible to depression due to their more realistic outlook on life however, it is more likely that creative people are more depressed due to how much time they spend ruminating on their thoughts. One of the most recognized artist that suffered from mental illness was, in fact, Sylvia…

Warren uses a mixture of tone and tension to emphasize the content and to help develop the theme. The author creates a tone of sadness throughout the poem. One example can be seen when Warren writes, “she sat In front of the drugstore, sipping something Through a straw. There is nothing like Beauty. It stops your heart. It Thickens your blood. It stops your breath.” Here the ‘boy’ seems to be truly in love with the girl and also has the desire to speak to her but can’t seem to go to her. The…

Kamala Markandaya was born in 1924 a well educated and modern Brahmin family in a small village in South India. She was brought up in a healthy atmosphere with traditional and cultural values. She was the student of the University of Madras where she studied history between the years of 1940 to 1947.12 Besides studying at the University, she also worked as a journalist, wrote short stories and fiction. She has a good opportunity to travel through India and Europe; this helps her to get the…

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Sylvia Plath’s novel, ‘The Bell Jar’, scrutinises how both women, the unnamed narrator and Esther, become mentally unstable. Both protagonists exploit their real life situations in their story and novel to emphasise how being a woman living in a patriarchal society has caused mental breakdowns. Moreover, they make attempts to explore and understand their suffering of depression and the possible ways to overcome it. The short…

How is the theme of tragedy presented in Lament and MId- Term Break? The poem lament is a famous poem written by Gillian Clarke. She was born in Wales and she was a poet but also a playwright, editor, and a translator. The poem lament is about the gulf war, which happened in August 1990 to February 1991. This is when Iraq invaded Kuwait; soon the USA and UK interfered by bombing Iraq. The word lament is an elegy this word is an expression that is used to show sorrow or grief. The title of the…

The theme of death is a potent idea portrayed across a range of poems, throughout these poems it is presented in various different ways. It is portrayed as simply a part of the cycle of life, or a tragic and sorrowful event when happening to loved ones, or a great evil that should be fought with every ounce of strength left in your body until everything in life that you wanted to accomplish has been fulfilled. These themes are portrayed throughout the 3 key poems that I will be focusing on: ‘A…

Death and Hope in Behind the Beautiful Forevers could be found many times throughout the novel in many different aspects and tones. In one instance specifically, it is explained how Meena and Manju discuss the concept of suicide quite frankly, as well as the hope the community has held in Navratri. Death and Hope is also prevalent within my own life with my experiences in depression and suicidal thoughts jading me to the different methods and motives for suicide, as well as hope and my general…